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[0:00] Paul Lazarus: Hi, this is Paul Lazarus. In the 1980s, I produced and hosted a radio series called Anything Goes, a celebration of the American musical theater. Now the Broadway Podcast Network is bringing back these shows. This is the conclusion of a two-part program featuring noted writer Frank Loesser. Loesser is perhaps best known for The Most Happy Fellow, the Pulitzer Prize-winning How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and the Broadway classic Guys and Dolls. This program originally aired in November of 1982.

[12:35] Paul Lazarus: Leonard Runyon soon led to Abe Burroughs, who had a big and skillful hand in writing the book. Abe, what came first, the book or the score?

[12:46] Abe Burroughs: In this case, Frank Loesser had 14 songs written, but I wrote a book using Frank's songs. And later, everybody spoke about the amazing integration of Guys and Dolls. Well, it was integrated because it fit, but it was an interesting experience having the songs first.

[13:03] ♪ Musical number: "My Time of Day" — performed by Frank Loesser ♪

[14:57] Abe Burroughs: You know, somebody once said about a musical, they're not written, they're fixed. It's a kind of an assembly job. That's Abe Burroughs again, and his point is well taken with a tune titled, If I Were a Bell. That was originally designed for Miss Sarah. It was just kind of straight and dull, and we pulled it out. Then we thought we'd try it again, so we gave it to Miss Adelaide to sing. It didn't work. Isabel Bigley, the mission doll, then got into the act.

[15:33] Isabel Bigley: One night, Frank Loesser called me and he said, you know, he said, we're going to let you do If I Were a Bell. And we rehearsed a bit, and they said, well, let's try and see what would happen if you did it with a little tipsy. And we put it in that night, and he never changed a thing. He said, that's it.

[15:53] Abe Burroughs: It came alive. It's a miraculous thing, this business of ours, how suddenly something happens that wasn't there before, you know? Amazing.

[16:01] ♪ Musical number: "If I Were a Bell" — performed by Isabel Bigley ♪

[17:27] Paul Lazarus: You are listening to Anything Goes about legendary writer Frank Loesser. So the songs came first, and then the book, and then, of course, the guys and the dolls themselves. Here's how Vivian Blaine, who played Miss Adelaide, got the job.

[17:42] Vivian Blaine: Well, when I first met Cy Fuhrer and Ernie Martin, it was apropos of Guys and Dolls, but at that time, there was only one leading lady in it known as Sarah Brown. They said they couldn't quite see me as the mission doll.

[17:57] Paul Lazarus: But a year later, Vivian had a visit from Frank Loesser.

[18:01] Vivian Blaine: He said, naturally, the show's been changed. There's now a woman who is in her 40s by the name of Miss Adelaide. And I said, well, thanks a lot, Sam. That's a big help. He said, well, listen to this. I want to do a song for you, which turned out to be A Person Can Develop a Cold, otherwise known as Adelaide's Lament.

[18:21] ♪ Musical number: "Adelaide's Lament" — performed by Vivian Blaine ♪

[21:41] ♪ Musical number: "Never Will I Marry" — performed by Tony Perkins ♪

[24:32] Paul Lazarus: A little different side of Frank Loesser there from Green Willow. A score and a show that wasn't all that successful when it came out, but obviously has merit. Tony Perkins singing Never Will I Marry from that score. Beautiful, beautiful. Not a typical moment from Frank Loesser, but then again he was capable of just about anything. You are listening to Anything Goes. I'm your host Paul Lazarus and today a listen to the songs of Frank Loesser. We have 15 minutes left and we have not

[25:11] Paul Lazarus: Anything from Mr. Loesser's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and I thought I'd feature "Been a Long Day."

[28:44] ♪ Musical number: "Been a Long Day" — performed by Robert Morse, Bonnie Scott, and Claudette Sutherland ♪

[30:30] Paul Lazarus: Two songs from Frank Loesser's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. First, Robert Morse, Bonnie Scott, and Claudette Sutherland sang "Been a Long Day," and immediately followed that with "Rosemary," Robert Morse, and Bonnie Scott. Just to wrap up this look at Frank Loesser's work, I want to return once again to The Most Happy Fella with Joe Sullivan, Frank Loesser's second wife, and Robert Weede performing "My Heart is So Full of You."

[31:03] ♪ Musical number: "My Heart is So Full of You" — performed by Joe Sullivan and Robert Weede ♪

[33:46] Paul Lazarus: Time for one last song. Go back to Mr. Loesser performing his own work together with his first wife Lynn Loesser. This is from Hans Christian Andersen again and one of his most charming works, "Inchworm."

[34:05] ♪ Musical number: "Inchworm" — performed by Frank Loesser and Lynn Loesser ♪